


500 Words: 351. Persiflage

by Sarahtoo



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6355600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarahtoo/pseuds/Sarahtoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phryne is in London, but she's missing home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	500 Words: 351. Persiflage

_noun **per·si·flage**   \_ _ˈpər-si-_ _ˌfl_ _äzh,_ _ˈper-\  
_ 1:  frivolous bantering talk, light raillery

 

Phryne lay naked beside her most recent lover, her lungs heaving with the exertions of sex, and pondered her own dissatisfaction. Not the bodily kind—her parents’ gardener had marvelous hands and a remarkable tool that he wielded with skill; her body was still humming from release. No, she was dissatisfied with the day-to-day humdrum that was her life in England.

She missed home.

She missed Melbourne, with its ridiculously hot days and its considerably less robust societal expectations. And her house, with its beautiful red-painted ironwork on the outside and the lush fabrics and furniture inside that she’d chosen entirely to her own taste.

She missed her work—the excitement of a new case, the thrill when she’d put the pieces together to form a complete picture. There had been no opportunity to solve more than minor mysteries here: a misplaced brooch, a lost cat. Nothing so stimulating as a murder.

She missed her friends. She wanted to see Mac and hear her stories of the coroner’s office and those of a more personal nature—Mac always knew the most interesting night spots. She wished for Dot; her young friend had grown into a modern woman over the year she’d served as Phryne’s companion, and Phryne was continually delighted by her. And Jane, who was away at boarding school in Sydney right now, but who’d be home soon. How Jane had grown—she was turning into an amazing young woman. And Mr B of the wondrous domestic gifts, and Bert and Cec with their rough humor and huge hearts, and kind Hugh, whose sweet nature made him a perfect foil for her assistant. Even Aunt Prudence, whose disapproving air hid a loving soul.

And Jack. She missed Jack most of all. She’d known even as she said the words that he hadn’t the means nor the freedom to follow her to England. If he’d been here, their titillating persiflage would have been enough to make England bearable, as would the ravishment that she intended for him. But Jack was not here, so every party was boring, and every young and beautiful man seemed to lack a certain something in their conversation, no matter how proficient they were in the boudoir.

Phryne sighed, then smiled reassuringly at her lover’s raised head and inquiring look.

This was not the first time that her post-coital thoughts had turned to Jack over the months of her stay in England, but this time they seemed to harden her resolve. It was time to return to Melbourne, she decided, tilting her head as she realized that she had no idea why she’d stayed in England so long. She could hardly conduct Jack’s ravishment from halfway around the world, could she?

With a stroke of her hand down the broad back of the man beside her, Phryne rolled out of bed, her mind already humming with itineraries and possibilities.

“That was wonderful, darling, but something else has come up,” she said lightly as she pulled on a robe, “and I need to make travel plans.” She blew him a kiss as she whirled to take the first steps on her long journey home.


End file.
